Dr Lizzie Rogers answers questions about the author and the social conventions of the world in which she lived and wrote
What do we know about Jane Austen’s life?
Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775, the seventh of eight children born to Reverend George Austen and Cassandra Leigh Austen. The family lived in Hampshire, where George was a cleric, and Austen spent the first two to three decades of her life there. Although she and her sister, Cassandra, went to school for a while, most of their education took place at home. After her father retired in 1800, Austen spent some time in Bath, but after her father’s death in 1805 until 1809, she, her mother, sister, and their friend Martha Lloyd were forced to live off the kindness of relatives, since they had little income of their own.
In 1809, Austen’s brother, Edward, offered them a cottage in Chawton, Hampshire – now Jane Austen’s House Museum – and it was there that she edited a lot of her early writing, including early versions of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Austen started publishing her work in 1811, with Sense and Sensibility being her first novel, but all her works were published anonymously, initially as “By a Lady” and then as “the author of [previous book]”. Sadly, Jane’s health started to decline, and she died on 18 July 1817, in Winchester, at the age of 41; she was buried in Winchester Cathedral.
What was the Austen family’s position in Regency society?
Austen and her family were part of what is often referred to as the ‘pseudo- gentry’. While they had connections to wealthier families and established gentry, their own financial status was sometimes unstable. Austen’s brother Edward was adopted by a wealthy childless couple, the Knights, who owned the Chawton estate in Hampshire, and the two sisters didn’t have large marriage dowries, which were important during the Regency period. So, although the family wasn’t impoverished, money was occasionally a concern. But Austen enjoyed an artistically and culturally rich life, with access to her father’s extensive library of over 300 books, and she and her siblings were encouraged to read widely. Her early writings, known as her juvenilia, offer an interesting reflection of the society in which she mixed, with its expectations for women, concerns about financial stability, and the role of marriage as a tool for security.
What can Austen’s work tell us about Regency attitudes towards marriage?
Marriage during the late 18th and early 19th centuries was a complex affair. Although marriage for love was becoming more common, many married for stability, and some, especially the upper classes, married to guard their fortunes and assets, and to strengthen political alliances. In Austen’s six published novels, she presents a variety of these concerns; we see romance, but it often comes with caveats. While I can’t claim to know the marriage patterns of everyone during this period, it’s safe to say that unions between different strata of the upper class – as with Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice – did happen, albeit with much consideration given to dowries, connections, and other factors. There were also several real-life cases of people marrying between completely different classes, including Emma Hamilton, who rose from humble beginnings to marry wealthy collector William Hamilton and then went on to have an affair with Lord Nelson. So, societal boundaries were fluid, depending on the right circumstances.
In Pride and Prejudice, Mrs Bennet claims Mr Darcy has an income of £10,000 a year. How aware were people of others’ wealth?
If we consider inflation alone, Mr Darcy’s wealth today would be around £1m a year. But if we look at it in terms of the assets that he owned, I’ve seen research suggesting that his wealth would be equivalent to about £12m annually, so it’s no wonder Mrs Bennet thinks that he would be a good catch for her daughters!
In general, I think people had a fair understanding of others’ wealth. They may not have known all the assets someone possessed, but would have had a good idea. As demonstrated by the period drama Bridgerton, for instance, we can see that wealth was often discussed through scandal sheets and gossip, which would have definitely played a part in public knowledge about an individual’s wealth, including the properties they claimed to own.
Furthermore, there were situations where people were thought to be wealthy, but were actually just managing their assets discreetly. We see this exemplified in Austen’s Persuasion, where Sir Walter Eliot, a spendthrift, has exhausted all his funds at Kellynch Hall, forcing him to rent it out. Yet he continues to rely on his status as a baronet to maintain appearances. It’s also important to note as well that a great deal of wealth was derived from land ownership at this time.
What would life have been like for the lower classes in this period?
Austen’s writing often features women in situations similar to her own – or those who are slightly more affluent – as these were the circles she was familiar with and operated within. In Mansfield Park, we get a brief glimpse of the lower classes through Fanny Price’s family, which is significantly less well-off than the wealthy Bertrams who adopt her. Portsmouth’s living conditions, particularly the Prices’ overcrowded house, are a stark contrast to Austen’s own environment. Similarly, in Emma, we meet Harriet Smith, a girl of uncertain parentage whose schooling is funded by a benefactor.
Although such glimpses are rare, they provide fascinating insights into the lives of the lower classes. And while such lives may have been more labour-intensive, there is no reason to suggest that they were any less fulfilling. In fact, women from these parts of society would have likely had more personal freedom and opportunities to earn their own income and engage in different professions. They would have also been less restricted by property-related constraints.
What were women’s rights like at this time?
Although Austen died just over a century before (some) British women got the vote in 1918, women’s rightswere already under discussion. During Austen’s own lifetime, we see the publication of influential works by Mary Wollstonecraft, including A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, the latter being published in 1787. And there was a surge of discourse about women’s rights during this period, which emerged from the intellectual era known as the Enlightenment, generally regarded as spanning the 18th century.
A growing number of thinkers began to contemplate women’s knowledge, their potential for learning, and their possible roles in society, and these discussions led to a variety of intriguing opinions, too numerous to encapsulate here. The crucial point, though, is the increased volume of writing focusing on women during this period. Many of these texts resonate with our contemporary understandings, which perhaps explains why figures like Wollstonecraft remain respected in the history of women’s writing. Her advocacy for equality, urging women to recognise and demand equal standing, is timeless. Mapping Jane Austen’s life against this historical backdrop makes her journey through these transformative 41 years all the more intriguing.
Were female writers accepted and respected?
I think it largely depended on the circles in which these individuals moved, but there were several very well respected female authors during this period. As I’ve mentioned earlier, Mary Wollstonecraft was one, but Austen herself was also a great admirer of the satirical novelist Frances Burney – we even find Austen’s name on the subscription list of one of Burney’s novels – and she was also a big fan of Ann Radcliffe, who helped pioneer the genre of Gothic fiction.
It’s also important to mention the ‘Bluestockings’ in this context – an 18th-century circle of female writers, artists and thinkers led by an aristocratic woman named Elizabeth Montagu. They received considerable acclaim, despite the inevitable controversy that sometimes surrounded women who led in such pursuits.
A testament to the recognition of the Bluestockings is a 1777 print by the English artist Richard Samuel, known as The Nine Living Muses of Great Britain, which celebrates its nine female subjects for their intellectual prowess and gives us a surprisingly pleasant glimpse into contemporary attitudes towards women’s achievements during this period.
It’s been suggested that, in Persuasion, Anne Elliot’s negative opinion of Bath reflects Austen’s own views on the city. Is this the case?
Today, Bath is most commonly associated with the Romans – and Jane Austen. However, considering her lack of literary output during her time there, it’s clear that Austen’s stay in Bath was a period of highs and lows. Austen’s time in Bath followed 25 years of happiness in Steventon, and it was during her stay in the city that her father passed away. She likely had a complex relationship with the city, primarily because it was the backdrop for some of her life’s most significant sorrows and, as a creative individual, the marked decrease in her literary output whilstin Bath serves as a telling indicator of her state of mind.
What impact did Austen’s ill-health have on her writing?
Ill-health and consequent periods of confinement meant that Austen likely had ample time to write, and I believe – though this is merely speculation on my part – that her struggles with poor health might well have instilled in her a renewed sense of purpose and determination in her work.
It’s commonly believed that Austen had Addison’s disease [a rare disorder of the adrenal glands], a condition that is now considerably more treatable and manageable. Back then, however, without a proper diagnosis, her health challenges remained largely a mystery. This may have given her a heightened awareness of her aspirations and what she wanted to achieve, while at the same time making her conscious of her physical limitations.
Interestingly, we find instances of illness, often with a comedic twist, in her novels as well. The depiction of Mrs Bennet with her dramatic bouts of ill heath, nerves and hypochondria come to mind, suggesting that Austen managed to retain a sense of positivity despite her personal struggles.
Explore more content from week two of our Regency course:
Regency culture, with Dr Lizzie Rogers – watching time 12 mins
Becoming Jane Austen – reading time 4 mins
The Romantics: everything you wanted to know – listening time 39 mins
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: the birth of a gothic monster – reading time 6 mins
How to survive a Regency marriage – reading time 7 mins
Visiting Brighton Royal Pavilion, the Prince Regent’s decadent getaway – reading time 3 mins
